


Cherry Blossoms

by kawaiiowl18



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 02:44:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9947135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawaiiowl18/pseuds/kawaiiowl18
Summary: When Angela Ziegler meets Genji Shimada, her life takes an interesting turn for the better.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So new idea: If my moodboards get more than 50 notes, I'll write a fic to go with them. How's that sound? I also like to accept writing prompts and whatnot so go send me stuff on my Tumblr: orangejuiceowl. Hope you all enjoy, stay awesome~
> 
> Not beta'd.  
> Also, this is just how I think it would be with Genji's anatomy. If you don't agree, that's fine but this is just my interpretation.

The mission they had was to go to Hanamura to try and build a relation with the Shimada clan. Commander Morrison figured they could be a good..asset to have in their back pocket. The cherry blossoms seemed to catch Angela's attention more than the party their hosts were having to welcome said guests. It was a custom and barely a party, honestly. There was food, people, but it was all formality. Angela had stepped outside to look around, taking in the architecture around her too. The blossoms were beautiful, innocent, pink. 

"They represent strength." A voice said from behind her, making her nearly jump out of the dress she was currently wearing. 

She turned slightly and offered a bow.

"Shimada-san. I had to step out for some fresh air...I hope I didn't seem rude by just leaving." She said

"Please, call me Genji. I hate these things too but Hanzo insisted...he has been very tense since our father passed." He said, looking over at one of the building instead of at her.

Angela saw regret in those eyes but chose not to address it since he didn't seem too keen on the subject. She reached up into the tree and pulled a cherry blossom out of it before walking over to Genji, placing it in hair and smiling a bit. This caused him to look at her curiously. She looked back at the cherry blossoms, still smiling.

"It's so beautiful here, isn't it?" She asked

Genji was still looking at her as he smiled a bit too. There was something different about her, something that made her fit in with the cherry blossoms.

"It is now." He said, still looking at her which made her turn her head quickly to look at him.

A gentle blush settled on her cheeks and she was about to say something when a woman clearing her throat broke the air between the two. She turned and saw Ana standing there.

"Angela, we should go back inside." Ana said in a motherly tone.

"Of course, yes. I'll be there in a moment, okay?" Angela responded, sharing a look with Ana.

Dr. Ziegler wouldn't try anything that could get Commander Morrison or Captain Amari in trouble while they were here. She had more respect and grace than that. Instead, she turned back to Genji and bowed again.

"You're not as bad as they think you are, Shimada-san." She said before going to head back inside.

"Call me Genji!" He shouted after her as she disappeared into their home.

A gentle sigh, he removed the cherry blossom from his hair and twirled it between his fingers for a moment before dropping it. He left the party all together, deciding to go entertain himself in other ways. Angela watched for him silently throughout the night but when he didn't return, she decided it was best to just stay Dr. Ziegler. The Overwatch Medic. That night was the last time she had seen Genji before everything changed. The team would be leaving soon enough, packed up and ready to fly out. They were waiting on Winston to fly in with Athena to come get them, saying their goodbyes. Commander Morrison went to speak with Hanzo alone but when he had come back, Hanzo wasn't with him and he looked sad.

"Dr. Ziegler...we need you." He said, making her stand.

"Who is it and where are they?" She asked

When they had approached the scene, it was a mess. There were burn marks in the floor, slash marks in the wood, blood, body parts, and Genji. She could only identify him by the green hair and one of his brown eyes. She frowned, staff in hand as she scanned him for any signs of life. She felt some relief as she realized he had vitals but it was a brief feeling because they were very weak. She got to work, using her staff to try and take some of the pain away but also knowing this was going to hurt him a lot.

"Shimada-san...please hang on." She said in a gentle soft tone before motioning for Morrison to pick him up.

Lingchi was a form of torture or execution that caused a very slow death, originating in China with no record of it being used in Japan. Lingchi roughly translates to death by a thousand cuts. It usually includes being tied up to a wooden pole, in public to cause humiliation, before having sections of skin sliced off. Angela did not believe this was entirely the method used but she knew it might have played a part in it as there were slash marks everywhere. She couldn't stop the scars from happening, she never could. His clothes were burned but he was untouched, the possibility of Hanzo using his dragon against him also evident in the way things looked. 

It took Dr. Ziegler 4 weeks, 2 days, and an uncountable amount of hours to get Genji functioning again. He was asleep the whole time, an act of mercy on her part honestly. She still thought him unable to be awake yet as she had just finished getting the wiring down perfectly. He would need metal covering for the wiring, something Winston was helping her work on. He still had one of his human hands. There was a bloody and crushed boquet of flowers that had cherry blossoms in them at the scene where they found him, which made her heart drop into her stomach. It had taken another week to finish up the metal and attach it to Genji. His face was the only thing exposed still, no hair on his face or head at all. He looked peaceful despite the few tubes and scars that litered his face. 

She had been working late one night, filing out paperwork when she heard a strange noise in the infirmary. She grabbed her pistol and left the office, slowly creeping to where the sound came from. She frowned when she saw Genji's bed was empty and her heart began to race. Where could he be? He shouldn't be awake, he wasn't ready to be awake yet. His vitals were still stabalizing and the machine was now humming in protest as it wasn't attached to his heart anymore. The room was dark apart from the monitors. She walked carefully, bare feet silent on the tile floor as she listened for any sort of metal clanking. There was none, a feature Winston had yet to educate her about. 

In all but a few seconds, she was disarmed, the gun now pressed to her temple as a metal hand lay against her mouth. 

"Hanzo. Where is Hanzo." He nearly growled out.

"Shimada-San.." She said but it was muffled by the metal.

"I will not hesitate to pull this trigger, where is Hanzo Shimada?" 

Why didn't he remember her? Why didn't he remember the cherry blossoms?

"Shimada-san." She said now, more forcefully and a little louder.

He didn't respond, he was too consumed. She elbowed him where she knew an exposed bundle of wires were, causing him to groan and drop to his knees as he let her go. She had taken the gun when it flew out of her hand, making her turn and aim it at him.

"What is your name?" She asked him.

The wires could have taken over, she could have turned this man into a complete machine without even realizing it. She could have erased Genji.

"Genji Shimada." He said, speaking through the pain now.

"What is my name?" She asked

He looked up at her, brown eyes filled with rage. 

"I will kill you." He said

"What is my name?"

He just stared at her then, rage turning into something unreadable. He lunged at her, pinning her to the ground as her pistol flew out of her hand now and slid away from her. He had his hand wrapped around her throat now.

"Where. is. my. brother?" 

Angela felt her heart racing as she began to struggle for oxygen. The metal hand would certainly leave a very nasty bruise.

"G...Gen..ji..." She choked out, tears filling her eyes as she wrapped her hand around his wrist.

He froze at this, staring into her eyes now. Her pupils were dialated and she could start to feel pain in her lungs. This was it, this was how she died, at the hands of her own creation from trying to save a man she believed to be kind. The metal hand then released slightly but still stayed on her throat. Coughs flew from her mouth as she suddenly gasped air back into her lungs.

"Cherry blossoms." He said

She looked up at him, eyes red now and still full of tears. Actual ones started to fall from her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close.

"Genji Shimada..." She said gently, voice raspy as she continued to cry.

"Dr. Ziegler..." He pulled away from her then and stood, backing away.

He looked at his hands and then his arms before looking back at her.

"What have you done to me?!" He asked, rage filling him again but before he could lunge at her once more, Ana hit him with a sleeping dart.

Angela laid back and closed her eyes, her breathing still slightly labored as the thought of him crushing her trachea came to mind. It wasn't like she could do anything about it now though as everything faded slowly to black. The last thing she remembered was Ana leaning behind her and calling out to Reinhardt. When she woke up, she was in an actual hospital bed that wasn't related to Overwatch. She looked around the room, it was the hospital she used to work at in Switzerland. Why was she back in Switzerland? 

"You're awake." Reyes said, leaning against the wall by the door.

She wanted to say something but felt the weight of a tube in her throat. Incubation. She motioned for Reyes to look away, making his eyebrows crinkle together before he saw her rip the tube out of her trachea. She coughed, feeling sore now. 

"Water..." She rasped out, making him move quickly to fill a cup with water and hand it to her.

"Are you insane?" He asked, frowning slightly.

She gulped down the cool liquid, it soothing her throat a bit. She took a few deep breaths, noting that her lungs were sore too, before looking back at him.

"What happened and why am I back in Switzerland?" She asked, voice still raspy.

"You got choked out by an angry cyborg and Morrison didn't want you two in the same infirmary. He thought somewhere familiar might help." 

A bitter laugh escaped her lips. It was a nice thought but Dr. Ziegler left this life behind for Overwatch, to join an organiziation she wasn't sure she wanted to be a part of but knew they would give her many chances to do great things. She didn't want to be at home, she wanted to get back to her research. Jack didn't always have the best sense of judgement, especially when it came to others.

"I want to get out of here, that's what I want." She said, causing Reyes to sigh and nod.

He went to get see if he could get her checked out. She unhooked herself from the machines and changed into the clothes that were left for her on the chair before climbing out of the window. She knew they wouldn't have allowed her to leave and instead of testing it, she just left. Morrison's motorcycle was also in the parking lot which means the two were going to argue over Angela and she couldn't handle that right now. After calling Winston and convincing him to send for her, she rode back with Ana in silence. 

The next time she had seen Genji was much later on, the man having been repaired and gone by the time she got back from being in the hospital. She decided to never again tamper with science like that, wondering if maybe Morrison hadn't shut down Genji. She hoped not. The explosion that followed one of Reyes and Morrison's arguments had caused Mercy to once again tamper with science in such a way. She would bring them back to life, give them a second chance to do what they truly wanted to do. This, of course, would fill her with guilt later when they learn that Reyes is now working for Talon but only for a short while. Angela knew people made their own desicions and even if she didn't agree with it, she still gave him a second chance.

The day Winston issued a recall, Angela was in the Middle East. She was living in a small apartment space when her com lit up, beeping ominously. She saw it was Winston and pressed the button.

"Winston? Is that you?" She asked

"Dr. Ziegler!" 

She had packed her things and returned to Overwatch, meeting at a safe point in Gibraltor. It was a mess here, just as she remembered it to be. She walked in silence after they landed, heading to where Winston said to meet him. She keep up a cheery front when greeting the others but her heart ached. What were they doing here and why? Morrison was there, face covered and in uniform. There were others too, her only recognizing those from before. It also surprised her to see Jesse McCree standing among them but she said nothing on that matter. After the debreifing, she wandered around Gibraltor, going back to her old hospital wing. She was digging through the old file cabinets when she found a photo of her and Genji. He had convinced her to go to the arcade with him when she was in Hanamura.

They had put a few coins into a photobooth and took pictures together. A sad smile rested on her lips when she saw the way he smiled in the photo. Despite his reputation, he never kissed her. He lightly flirted but he was nothing but a clumsy gentleman to her. It was a simpler time, much happier certainly. She heard a strange noise and frowned, tucking the photo into her back pocket before pulling her pistol out. She hid behind debris and listened as she heard a gentle hum. Figuring it was only Zenyatta, she sighed gently and tucked the gun away before going to say hi. She had stopped, however, when she saw the green glow and a familiar set of metal.

"There she is, my student. I will leave you two alone." He said, ignoring Genji's silent protest as he left the room.

"Dr. Ziegler..."

It sounded like him, although slightly robotic. Her heart was racing in her chest as she stood there, hand resting above her gun now as she waited for him to lunge at her. Instead, he held out a boquet of cherry blossoms.

"I must apologize for my actions from before. I was afraid I had killed you when I came to my senses again...but I do understand if you cannot accept this apology. I only crushed your windpipe..." He said, somehow his tone running dry as he spoke.

He was nervous. Angela shook her her and took the flowers before shaking her head again. Incredible. 

"I forgive you, I forgave you. You're such an idiot sometimes." She said, looking up from the blossoms to him then. 

"What do you mean?" He asked

"You wouldn't understand." She responded, frowning slightly as her doubts came forward again.

What if this truly wasn't Genji? She handed him the blossoms back and went to walk passed him when a human hand grabbed her arm gently.

"Dr. Ziegler. I am still a man, more than I am a machine. I have made peace with my past, I have accepted what I am...and I hope that one day you do too." He said before letting her arm go.

She turned to look at him from what used to be the doorway and smiled a bit.

"Call me Angela." She said before turning away from him and walked back to where the others would be. 

Those three words gave Genji hope. When the fragments of Overwatch came together, they decided to make a base and make it home for a while. They had several of them, one in Numabi. One in King's Row. Even Gibraltor had somewhat been fixed by the team. The team also continued to grow as they went on various missions, Hanzo even joining their ranks at some point. He was weary that Dr. Ziegler was mad at him but she wasn't. She understood to the extent that she could and that was good enough for her, plus Angela didn't like holding grudges. There were moments where she was actually glad to have everybody back together, where it felt nice to have a home where she wasn't so lonely. 

She listened to the small conversations around her as she made a cup of tea, McCree and Hanzo arguing over weapons. Junkrat and Roadhog were playing poker with Mei and Zarya. Morrison, Ana, and Rein were all sitting on the couch talking about nothing in particular, everybody not even in their armor or uniforms as they all just relaxed. There was no mission today, just a chance to exist without turmoil. Peace seemed pretty nice to her in this moment. She discarded the tea bag and added sugar before going to retreat back to her room. She passed the training room on her way and heard a sharp thwack sound as she passed by. Out of curiosity, she entered the room and placed her cup of tea on one of the benches nearby. Genji was there, katana in hand as he kept whacking at the dummy.

He was also not in his armor, synthetic flesh and metal covered by a long sleeve shirt and baggy pants as he continued to move with precision. It was slightly hypnotising, making her sit down and decide to drink her tea there.

"He gets nervous when people watch him." A voice said, making her nearly spill her tea from being startled.

Hanzo sat next to her then, watching him too.

"How long have you harbored feelings for him?" He asked her

Angela blushed, how forward.

"I do not harbor feelings for anybody. Your brother is a very skilled swordsman, that is all." She said, taking a sip of her tea.

"Genji gives you cherry blossoms, not because he believes they represent strength but because they represent the fragility and beauty of life. In the beginning, perhaps his intentions were unpure but I can see how mature he has gotten since..." He stopped, not wanting to speak of the incident.

Guilt weighed heavily on Hanzo, Dr. Ziegler could see that. She gave a few nods before looking back at Genji. A slight smirk appeared on her lips as an idea came to her mind.

"I'll ask Genji out if you ask McCree out."

Hanzo blushed slightly and looked away from her, clearing his throat. 

"How did you know?" He asked, looking back at her.

"Woman's intuition." She said with a wink before setting her empty cup down.

"I don't know if I can do that." He admitted

"Why not?" She asked

"He does not return the sentiment." Hanzo responded stiffly, standing now.

"You could be surprised." She said with a shrug.

"How do you know?" He asked again.

"Woman's intuition." She responded once more which earned a huff from him.

He turned and left then, making her laugh which caught Genji's attention.

"How long have you been sitting there, Dr. Ziegler?" He asked

"Only a few moments. I didn't mean to startle you or anything...I can go." She said, standing and going to grab the cup of tea but Genji moved rather quickly.

She was pinned now between him and the wall, making her eyes widen slightly as she stared back at him. It was his face, no helmet or mask to cover the markings. He had no hair on his face or head at all, the scar marks still there. part of his jaw had to be replaced with a metal plate but his appearance isn't what alarmed her. It was simply how human he felt, how much he seemed like Genji. He was Genji, she knew that without a doubt now. His heart was still beating within him, she knew this. She was the one that patched him up, the one who put him back together. 

"I overheard what you and my brother were talking about." He said, instantly making her blush.

"Are you really going to wait for him to ask McCowboy out? Because he is going to take a million years to do it." He continued

"I would be okay so long as it was a million years I got to spend with you." He added

She pressed a gentle kiss to the rough skin of his cheek then before pressing another kiss over some of his scars. She then pulled away and looked at him, heart racing in her chest again.

"What's my name?" Angela asked softly, anxiety getting to her.

He sighed and pulled away, tears filling her eyes again.

"I have hurt you too much..." He said, back facing her now.

"What is my name?"

"Angela." He said, turning to face her again

"We cannot be because I hurt you. I cannot expect you to love a monster like me." He said

"Genji, wait." She said but it was too late because he had left the training room in a hurry then.

Angela sighed and immeidately went to go look for him, wanting to right the wrong. She found him on the roof, watching the stars.

"May I join you?" She asked.

"If you wish." He responded.

She sat next to him then and also gazed up at the stars.

"I..am not scared of you, Shimada-san. I was scared of what I had done. I was afraid I had erased you forever, turned you into nothing but a machine but I see now. Through you and Zenyatta, I see and I know better. I'm sorry...I didn't mean to upset you. I'm not afraid you're going to choke me, no...I'm afraid that I'm going to lose you to my own design. My own will to save you." She said, looking at him now.

He looked back at her for a moment before intertwining his fingers with hers. She still kept her eyes on him, wondering what was going on in his mind. 

"That will never happen. You brought me back to life from the depths of death...you are the beauty of life." 

She smiled a bit at this and rested her head on his shoulder as they went back to gazing up at the stars.

"Well, Shimada-san...I think we should reevaluate your ecoskeleton. Say, 8pm tomorrow? Cafe in Numabi?" She asked

"Only if you start calling me Genji, Angela." He said

"Okay, Genji." 

The two of them sat there, enjoying the stars together in silence. Hanzo finally managed to ask McCree out but it came out as a shout during an argument. McCree agreed and they went on a date two weeks later, meaning that Genji lost the bet him and Angela placed. Hanzo was not happy about said bet.

It had been two years since they had started dating and now they shared a room in the King's Row and Numbani bases. She had just finished showering, dressed in a black dress and happy to get the blood and sweat off of her body. They had a reservation, something Tracer recommended. Upon entering their shared room, she found a boquet of cherry blossoms and a note from Genji apologizing for having to skip out on their date due to a mission. With a gentle sigh, she was about to unzip the dress when their door opened to reveal a very worn out looking Genji. She took him to her infirmary to do repairs and patch him up as she could.

"You look beautiful." He said as she wore a pair of goggles and worked on reparing a dent in the armor.

She paused and looked up at him, smiling a bit.

"Thank you, but I'm rather worried about you.."

His hand cupped her cheek, making her look back up at him.

"I'll be fine...I have an angel to watch over me."

She blushed, "Genji. You're making it hard to focus."

"Sorry." But she knew he wasn't. 

"I wanted to ask you something." He said as she continued to work.

"What's that?" 

The tool nearly slipped out of her hands when he asked her the question, making her turn it off and put it on the side table so she didn't lose any appendages as well. She removed the googles and just looked at him.

"What did you say?" She asked

"Angela Ziegler, will you marry me?" He asked her

A few moments of silence between them lead to her nodding vigerously and pressing a kiss to his face plate, leaving a smudge of purple there. He laughed slightly.

"The ring is in our room."

"Seems a perfect location as any." She remarked before going back to work.

Another laugh escaped him, making her smile. It wasn't entirely peaceful, this lifestyle, but it was peaceful enough with Genji by her side which was an idea Angela could get behind.


End file.
